According to the Football411 website, the midfielder was scheduled to start against Group A rivals AC Leopards, but was yanked out of the team when De Sa was informed the club had failed to renew his contract, which had ended on June 30.
"I was told he is not a Pirates player," De Sa told the media at the weekend.
"His contract ended at the end of June, and it's a boardroom issue that they couldn't come to an agreement, so he wasn't available.
"Segolela was in the starting XI to be honest, but he didn't reach an agreement with the club. You have to respect that.
"You got to sign a contract to play for a club, and obviously at boardroom level they didn't come to terms and we had to play someone else.
"Daine Klate got a late call but did very well. These are things that don't happen between the four lines but at boardroom level."